PUNE: A sense of excitement and enthusiasm coursed through many students preparing for in-person classes form Monday as they will be stepping into their classrooms after a long gap of 13 months. Schools will reopen for classes from Std VIII to Std XII in urban areas and from Std V onwards in rural areas.
Parents said they were cautious and would exercise precautions while sending their children to school. Authorities said nearly 60% parents on an average have given their consent to send their children to school. Meanwhile, teachers are also ready to welcome back their students and start on an informal note by acclimatising them initially and then begin academics after a week.
As many as 256 schools under Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) are ready to welcome students back with all safety precautions and a time-table for the next two weeks which will be lighter on academics.
Meenakshi Raut, education officer at PMC, said, “The sanitisation activities and other arrangements in all our schools are complete and now our teachers are waiting to welcome them. The attendance might be average on the first day but it will definitely improve from the second week onwards.”
Principal of Sanskriti School in Bhukum, Damini Joshi, said they have a detailed SOP going beyond what is laid down by the government. “Our priority will be to bring the children back to school and offer them a safe and healthy environment. As for mid-term exams for Std X and Std XII, they will be conducted offline. This exercise will help prepare the students for the boards,” she added.
Principal of HDFC School, Amruta Prabhu, said that the school was conducting online examinations and hence they would reopen after the exams were over. Prabhu said, “It would create confusion if we reopened in the middle of the online exams. Most parents requested that we reopen after the exams are over so we decided to reopen after Dussehra, around the second half of the month.”
The Akshara International School also decided to reopen after their ongoing mid-term exams are over. Principal Sonali Balwatkar said, “We are still taking consent from parents regarding the reopening and the exams are going on so we would reopen only after October 15.”
In rural areas the schools had started for std VIII onwards a month ago. Chief executive officer of Pune Zilla Parishad, Ayush Prasad, said, “We are expecting a good turnout for the classes that are reopening from Monday onwards. Our higher classes are going on smoothly and infrastructure wise we are already prepared for the reopening.”
Uddhav’s Address
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will address teachers and students on Monday under the ‘My student, my responsibility’ initiative’. The CM wants schools to ensure that all SOPs are followed so that schools do not have to shut down again, said a state official.
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